Journey Through The Bible – Part 5
In The Bearing – 25th October 2009
Deuteronomy means “Second Law” and it records Moses’ final words as the Israelites prepare to enter the Promised Land. Forty years have passed since the Law was handed down on Mount Sinai and the entire generation that witnessed that event has passed away, with the exception of a few.
Genesis tells of Israel’s Election,
Exodus tells of Israel’s Redemption
Leviticus tells of Israel’s Sanctification
Numbers tells of Israel’s Direction
Deuteronomy tells of Israel’s Instruction
Moses gave this new generation detailed instruction about God’s Law and His covenant with Israel. He exhorted Israel to pay attention to God’s instructions and he showed that God will reward obedience and punish disobedience.
We fail to realise the importance of the book of Deuteronomy. This is the book that was discovered during King Josiah’s days that brought great revival to Israel. It is from this book that Christ quoted 3 times when tempted by the devil. Mat 4:4 quotes Deut 8:3; Mat 4:7 quotes Deut 6:16; Mat 4:10 quotes Deut 10:20
Deuteronomy 32:11-12
The Bible makes it very simple. The Word of God says, “as an eagle…so the Lord…” There are some valuable lessons for us to learn from the eagle that tell us how God operates in our lives. As an eagle works, so does the Lord….
I. God is the Designer
As the Eagle so the Lord Builds.
Job 39:27 Doth the eagle mount up at thy command, and make her nest on high? In the cliffs high above the ground, the eagle finds the perfect location to build the nest. Great care is taken in building that nest. Now an eagle builds her nest first out of rough sticks, and then lines it with mud and leaves, and then often they will kill some small animal like a rabbit or squirrel and use the fur to line the nest. The nest is prepared with tender, loving care.
This is a building process that goes on. The life of the eagle cannot continue unless the building process goes on. As the eagle builds, so the Lord builds.
God is building us and He is not finished yet. God’s Word says in Philippians 1:6, Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ. We know He will finish because someday we are going to be like the Lord Jesus. Thank God for that.
The Lord saved me from where I was, right where He found me; and if someday I am going to be like the Lord Jesus, I am going to be one continual building site until I see the Son of God. He is still working on me!
When the disciples went to the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, the Bible says that the Lord Jesus had a question and answer session with them. Matthew 16:13-18
The Lord is the One who builds His church. We must allow Him to do the building. As an eagle, so the Lord builds.
II. God is the Disturber
As the eagle, so the Lord stirreth.
God works like an eagle. "Like an eagle stirreth up her nest." When it's time for the baby eaglets to learn to fly, the parents stir up the nest. Mother knows that baby eaglets were not born to stay in the nest for the rest of their lives. She cares for them and she longs to be near them. She is proud of them, but they were not born to stay in the nest, (If they stay in the nest they won’t develop and they’ll die.)
In order to get the eaglets out of the nest the mother eagle must do something that is painful to do. She purposely makes the nest uncomfortable by pulling out the soft grass and feathers.
If we could hear the little eaglets talking in the nest, they would say something like, “It is impossible to find a comfortable place around here! Ouch! That hurts! I can’t find a place to sit. I don’t know what is going on. Everything was perfect until a few days ago. Something went wrong.” This mother eagle is causing her eaglets to look beyond the nest, making them realize they must get out of here. She must break up the nest.
God is in the disturbances just as much as He is in the deliverances. Every one of us is exactly the way we are for one reason. We are content to be that way. Some people are so content that they would just sit where they are and do no more until the Lord Jesus Christ comes back. We must realise that God wants to stir us up.
We wonder why things happen. You may wonder why you are having difficulty. You may wonder why things are not going smoothly for you. It is because God wants to do more with your life that He has ever done before.
The Lord's disturbance of our lives of contentment is much the same. He removes the comforts of accommodation to life as it is. He creates dissatisfaction. Wherever we are in our faith, our personality development, our life goals, or our realisation of God's plan for us, there is always a next step. And so to get us ready, the Lord stirs up a creative discomfort.
Sometimes this preparation comes with crises, and often with difficulties. These are the times when God must close some doors to get us to notice the others He has opened for us.
There's a false idea that we can finally get things sorted out and settled down. We strive to solve all the problems we face, work through all the challenges, and resolve all our conflicts in the vain hope that we can then sit back comfortably and relax. But so often, the Lord has other plans for us, plans which are far beyond our own. And so the Lord stirs up our nests. He allows disturbances which wake us up and get our attention. Whenever life falls apart in some area, God is giving us a chance to grow.
III. God is the Developer
As the eagle, so the Lord fluttererth
After the eagle in Moses' metaphor stirs up the nest, it "fluttereth over her young." The Hebrew word for "fluttereth" can also be translated "brood." It is same word used in the creation story - the Spirit brooded over the waters. It is an active verb - the eagle's hovering over the eaglets implies more than just watching out for their safety and provision. It includes whatever is necessary to get the eaglet out of the nest.
A study of how eagles do this is fascinating. First the mother presses the eaglets to the edge of the now uncomfortable nest. Often she will swoop down from behind, actually pushing the eaglet to the precipice. Then she will fly around in front of the eaglets who are fearfully tottering on the edge. Flapping her wings, she gives the eaglet both example and inspiration of the possibility of flying. She has their attention.
Very few times in our lives does God really get our attention. When He gets our attention, we should respond to Him. Psalm 95:7-8 For he is our God; and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. To day if ye will hear his voice, [8] Harden not your heart, as in the provocation, and as in the day of temptation in the wilderness:
Some people may go for years without God getting their attention, but when He gets it, they should respond to Him. Mother eagle has their attention. They are no longer comfortable in the nest. Suddenly, they see her. Beautifully, majestically, she glides through the air. Those gorgeous wings are spread as she moves through the air with the eaglets in view.
She keeps her eyes on them because she has walked that path before and she knows what is going on inside their little hearts. They are looking at her and thinking, “Could I ever do that? Could I ever fly like that?” Mother looks like me, and I look like her. Mother is out of the nest, and I am in the nest. Could I ever get out of this nest and do something I have never done before?”
Eaglets do not learn by watching one another. They learn to fly by watching their mother. Christians never grow by watching one another. They grow by looking to Jesus Christ!
Hebrews 12:2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of [our] faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
There are disappointing, heartbreaking things that happen sometimes to turn our eyes back on the Son of God. The beauty of it is that His eyes are always on us. In the darkest night, the roughest time, the loneliest hour, when it seems as though it would be easier to die than live, God is watching you, brooding over you. He is always tenderly, lovingly looking at you. The Bible says that we are never alone and never forsaken!
If the eaglets still refuses to try its wings, the mother eagle will fly around once again and actually push the eaglet off the edge. If our uncomfortable nest does not rouse us, He will command the circumstances of our life to push us to the precipice.
IV. God is the Deliverer
As the eagle, so the Lord Beareth.
Our Lord is not only disturber and developer, He is also our deliverer! We could never dare to take a fledgling flight of faith if we were not sure of that. Spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them, Beareth them on her wings:
Here we see the eaglet, falling in space, trying its wings, and at just the right moment, the eagle swoops down, spreads its gigantic wings, to catch the eaglet. The process is repeated over and over until the eaglet becomes fully capable of flying by itself.
But, let me remind you why those parents do that to those little eagles, it’s for their own good. It is the only way to get to those eagles to become strong and mature. And I can imagine that in the mind of that little eagle as it is falling, it is probably saying, “What did I do wrong, where is dad when you need him”?
But just before he crashes he feels the strength of his father beneath him.
The eaglets must exercise faith to fly. He was born to fly, not to sit in the nest.
Many Christians have never realized why they were born again. We were not born again to sit in church. We were not born again to have meetings. We were born again to abide in Christ and to tell others about the Son of God. We fail, but when we are failing and falling, our heavenly Father is there to bear us on His wings.
There have been many times when I’ve felt like all I was doing was falling and failing miserably, I took my eyes off of the Lord, but God never took His eyes off me.
The little eaglet tries again and mother eagle sees that his wings are faltering. Again, like a rocket, she zooms down beneath him, picks him up, carries him higher, moves her wings, and lets him try again. Finally, he flies!
In all of the recorded studies of eagles, researchers have never found that even one eaglet has fallen to his death because he was not caught on his mother’s wings! I know that I am safe in Jesus Christ. I am sure of heaven. I have the promise that the Lord will take care of me.
There are going to be times when it seems like there is no hope, and no way through, but just at the right time, Just before it looks like we are going to be smashed on the rocks of trouble and defeat, the heavenly Father reaches down His hand and lifts us up, and says Son, daughter, I’m just teaching you how to fly. And then He carries us in His hands for a while.
From sinking sands He lifted me,
With tender hands He lifted me,
from shades of night to planes of light
Oh praise His name He lifted me.
What a powerful image of God! He will not allow us to stay in the nest or even on the precipice in indecision; but as we leap over and try our half- formed wings, He catches us when we have fallen too far.
Jude 24: "Now to Him who is able to keep you from falling ." Christ is with us in calling us out of the nest and He keeps us from falling into anything which will ultimately harm us, now and for eternity.
Conclusion
Maybe you’re here tonight and you are still in the nest
Maybe you’re here tonight and you know that God is stiring up that nest to make you uncomfortable where you are. Not because He is mean, but because you need to grow strong.
Maybe you’re here tonight and you’re falling. Remember that your heavenly Father is watching and knows just how much you can take. He is teaching you how to depend totally on Him.
Maybe you’re here tonight, and you know what it is like to fly Isaiah 40:31 But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint..
However, flying is only the beginning. The eaglet is fully an eagle not only when it develops its wings, but when it learns that there is a jet stream which catches and propels it. No longer is it just the strength of its wings, but the mysterious power of the wind. When we dare to leap from the edge of the nest, we discover that the everlasting arms do more than catch us; they are like the wind lifting us.
Oh, listen tonight, if you are God’s child, He cares for you and we need to rejoice in the fact that we have wonderful heavenly Father who cares about us.